Sunday, October 30, 2011

Herbalife anyone?

My husband's boss (really more his friend) has been doing Herbalife protein/weight loss shakes and doing PX90.  He has lost a tremendous amount of weight.  He swears by his Herbalife shakes. I looked into them and I found out that the company now makes a gluten free, dairy free weight loss shake.  I would LOVE to find a weight loss shake I could tolerate (in terms of allergies, not taste).  It would make breakfast so much easier for me. 

Plus, I lost a lot of weight as a teenager by replacing two meals a day with slimfast.  I kept it off for years and maintained my ideal weight until my parents got divorced (but that is another story for another day).  I really believe that if I could find a weight loss shake that I could tolerate I could really start to get this weight off.

So, if anyone has done Herbalife shakes could you share your experience with me please?   Thank you!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Great dojo day

It is snowing here in Pennsylvania and somehow that made the day at the dojo even better.  Thanks to Sensei and my husband, I got a lot of good help.  I have a lot of work to do.  I didn't even care about the 21 year olds-ha,ha.
Enjoy the snow everyone!

miracle repeated

I lost another pound.
Food journal is definitely a good thing!  I will probably stop weighing myself every day since that tends to make my thinking get obsessive.  But, it is nice to know that this seems to be working.

Today is a dojo day.  Excited and nervous. 
Hope you have a great day.

Friday, October 28, 2011

A miracle occurred in the last 24 hours

Now, don't ask me exactly how it happened because I have no idea.  But, somehow over the last 24 hours I lost 2lbs.  All I did differently was use a food journal.  I am not holding my breathe that this will be a continuing trend but we will see.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Sensei and Dr. Oz

My Sensei called today to make certain I watched the Dr. Oz show.  And, I am so glad that he did (thanks Sensei!!).

Dr. Oz had a great program today, the topic was how to diet for your body type.  He broke it down to two basic body types:  Large bottoms or Big Bellys.  I feel like I could easily fit into both categories but I think I am more of a Big Belly person.  He had very specific and diverse advice for both body types.  Click  here for nutrition advice.  Click here for exercise advise.

To sum up the advice here it is:  Big butts go low fat, Big Bellys go high fat, high protein, low carb.
Big butts become smaller by doing strength training (mostly lower body work).  Big Bellys need cardio.  But, please read the above links to get all the details.

The bigger issue for me was that I finally felt vindicated.  I feel that I have never really been able to commit to a high protein/low carb diet because I keep hearing some phantom food police in my head yelling at me for eating fat.  Low fat makes me feel ill to be honest (because without some fat in your diet you tend to replace the calories with carbs).  I know this is why I fail on Weight Watchers.  And, I have just felt like a failure due to my inability to eat low fat.  But, now I can replace that phantom food police's voice with Dr. Oz voice telling me I must eat fat and avoid carbs.  Thanks Dr. Oz!  Thanks Sensei!!

It is funny that this information came today because today is the day I started a new thing.  I decided that I have to keep a food journal.  I need some structure and a food journal would provide that.  I started writing everything down and started to feel that food guilt that comes from eating fat.  Especially since I had also started tracking my Weight Watchers points.  Now I think I will instead track calories. As well as cutting back on all carbs. Wish me luck that this will start the weight loss ball rolling.

On a totally random note, we are going to the dojo on Saturday to work out.  It is very exciting!! 
Hope you all are having  a great week.  And, thanks again Sensei!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Finally a DVD I can do

I finally found a DVD that I can do without killing my knee.  It is Tae Bo "The Believers Workout".  Be forewarned, it heavy on the religious speak but if you can get past that (and maybe that works for you) it is easy on the knees and good for beginner to intermediate exercisers.  There are two of these DVD's.  One pictured above called "Strength Within"  and one called "Power Within".  They were distributed in 2003 so you have to buy them on places like Amazon.  On the upside, you can get them fairly cheaply.

This has been a pretty good week for me in terms of exercise and diet.  I have done well on both.  Sadly, that has not translated into any more weight loss.  Hmnnn.....

Have a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

banging my head against the wall

I have been having pretty intense headaches from my sinus issues (so I am really glad I am getting that surgery done during the week of Thanksgiving).  Due to this over the last 48 hours, I haven't been so careful about my food choices.  I didn't eat a lot. I just ate exactly what I wanted.  More along the lines of how you are suppose to eat if you are following an intuitive eating plan.  Again, I didn't think about food or diet at all.  And, guess what?! I lost another 2lbs. 

What is the lesson learned here?  Well, it seems my hypothesis about not dieting seems to really be true.  For whatever reason being on a diet doesn't work for me.  I will be testing this hypothesis for a few more days to see if it continues to work for me.  Maybe I just need to focus on exercise and let the rest take care of itself?  I have been enjoying working on my stances and kata every day so maybe that is also part of the issue.   Guess I will have to wait and see.

Monday, October 17, 2011

10/17/11

After my last spiritual weight loss class (yeah, I get how silly that sounds but I am desperate) last Wednesday I decided to give up sugar.  So since Wednesday I haven't eaten sugar (except for a few sodas at dinner last night) and have only allowed myself  one carb per day.  I've also been really good about consistently eating healthy and appropriate portion sizes.  I've also been exercising every day.  The sum total of this has been zero results in terms of weight loss.

I am totally frustrated.  I have done ZERO emotional eating.  I have eaten nothing but healthy, boring food.  And, I have been so good about portion control.   It just doesn't make any sense. (but, hey, the spiritual weight loss class does seem to be helping on some level)

The question now is what do I do?  Maybe my anorexic woman family members are right,  maybe it is time to starve myself?  We will see.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sunday night

First of all, Amanda....all I can say is that I love you!!!  As always thank you for your support and great comments.

Just got back from dinner with Joe and his wonderful family. We had such a great time.  It was a great karate weekend.  Joe any time you want to work on kata (or anything else) you are ALWAYS welcome to come work out in our garage or as we call it "dojo lite". 

Thanks to everyone for their support.  Hope you all have a great week.

the little bastards

My husband thinks that I may have offended some by calling the 20 somethings at karate "little bastards".  If I have offended then I appologize. " Little bastard" is the term my father was called when he was a 20 something by an old guy he knew who was totally annoyed by my father's youthful vigor.  It is now the term my father calls younger men who can out hike or work him.  This is the only reason I called the 20 somethings that term.  It has everything to do with their youth and nothing to do with them as actual people.  The guys at the dojo seem  like nice enough people.
Hope this clears up any misunderstandsings.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

After the Dojo

Today was a pretty great day.  Getting to go to the dojo was wonderful.  It felt like I was home again.  But, it was also an eye opener. 

I have spent weeks and weeks reviewing kata I have know for years.  When I am home working out, my kata isn't bad.  In fact, I was feeling somewhat proud of the power and crispness I had in my moves.  But, today, in front a dojo full of  21 year old college guys, my form completely fell apart. I completely unraveled.  There I was -a 300 lbs., middle aged, matronly looking woman (who was the only person not wearing a gi/uniform because I've out grown mine) trying to remember the simplest of kata in front of these young kids.  Kids that never get tired, achy, stiff, and who are a third of my size.  They kept looking at me trying to figure out what I was doing there.  There were definitely moments when I was wondering the same thing about myself. 

But, I had to really remember why I was there.  The one thing I absolutely know about myself is that I love karate.  All the years I was sick and sitting on my sofa, all I kept thinking was when I get better I am going back to karate.  There was nothing else that I really cared about (with the exception of having a child).  So, now that I am over 40 and grossly overweight, I am not about to let a bunch of 21 year olds run me out of karate just because they make me feel old and embarressed (little bastards). 


On the plus side, Sensei gave me some things to work on.    It is great to have some guidance on how to start to improve.  I also have a fire in my belly, so to speak, to work harder and get better.  So thank you 21 year olds.  Thank you for getting me a little annoyed and angry.  That just makes me want to fight harder to get to my goals.  While getting to my goals might be easy when you are 21.  At 41, it is hard and it takes heart and soul to get to the finish line.  And, that is exactly what it takes to be a fighter and eventually a black belt!!! 
(but, they are still a bunch of little bastards)

Low carb-high fiber

I read this article and thought that it was very helpful so I am passing it along.
click here

Friday, October 14, 2011

10/14/2011 friday

Tomorrow my husband and I are dojo bound.  I am so excited. And, nervous....
The last time I really worked out at the dojo I was in my early 30's. A lot has changed since then.
But, we have been working our kata and I can honestly say that I am happy about how it is progressing. 

I have also been tweaking my diet a little with some success.  I am finding that limiting my carbs to one meal a day is really making a difference.  I still avoid grains, dairy, and gluten.  Anyway, I will write more about that later in the week.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Dojo trip in 5 days

We made arrangements to visit the Dojo with our friend Joe this Saturday.  I have to say, I am so freaking excited that I could burst.  I am so excited to workout with the guys and see Sensei.  Thankfully Joe informed us that we can actual go in on Saturdays and workout at the Dojo for an hour.  Knowing that I can do that a few times a month is such a huge incentive to work harder to get back there full time.

If Sensei or Joe are reading this-can't wait to see you !!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Lesson learned

I learned a valuable lesson this week.  During the last week I was really busy.  Too busy to worry about my diet.  Instead I just eat in a way that I knew would keep me healthy and feeling good (protein, veggies, some fruit, with the occasional fun food thrown in).  I exercised when I could and ate intelligently but I didn't think about dieting.  Instead I ran between doctor's appointments and worked on my jewelry (this time of year I bring in some extra money by making handmade jewelry and selling it at church holiday bizarres).

This morning I finally realized that I hadn't thought about my weight in a long time and jumped on the scale in a total panic.  I was down 6lbs.

Here is the lesson -I can't diet.  I know a lot of people do great on a formal diet.  If you are one of those people that is great!!  But, it doesn't work for me.  I grew up with a mother and grandmother who were ragging anorexics.  They filled my head with a million food rules-most of them totally wrong.  To this day I still kinda think the calories in pastry doesn't count as food as long as you don't eat anything else all day (yeah, my mom believed that and lived that).  She would get on me for eating protein but cookies didn't count as food with calories in it).  To counter all the crazy food rules I grew up with I have tried to educate myself about nutrition by reading every diet book that has been published since 1990.  If you have ever read a few diet books or tried at least three different diets,  you know that each diet has its own set of food rules and they all conflict with every other diet out there. So, after 20 years of reading diet books I have about a million conflicting rules in my head at given moment.  That is enough to drive you nuts.  But, when you just know makes you feel healthy and only eat when hungry and stop when full......well, that seems to be enough.

As for exercise, well I have the same problem.  While my mother and grandmother never exercised I have been researching that for 20 years as well.  All I did last week was kata.  Frankly, I really believe that kata is enough.  It is both a cardio exercise and weight bearing.  For now, kata is enough.

The moral of this story is listen to yourself and just do your best. Most of the time that is more than enough.

On a side note-
Gi are karate uniforms.  Tough to get one larger than a size 7 (that means about a size 20-22 in girl world)  But, there is one martial arts store in America that is making them up to a size 12 (not certain but maybe that is like a size 32 in woman's sizes).  The store is called Oddessy Martial Arts Supply.  Hope this helps someone somewhere :)

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The miracle I've been waiting for????

I have been having some sinus problems bad enough that my vision has been seriously effected this summer.  I didn't mention it before because
1) I always seem to have something wrong with me and it is annoying
2) I didn't think it was a big deal
3) I didn't think anything could be done about it.

Today I finally had to go to an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor after some cat scans were taken of my head.  Turns out I need sinus surgery.  The doctor even said he thinks the situation is serious enough that it has been effecting my sleep and is the reason why I am overweight.  He thinks when I am healed up from the surgery and can breath again, my weight should go down.......

Yeah, that is prettty much too good to believe.  We will see what happens.
I'll let you know when I get a date for surgery. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Oct. 5, 2011

So, the quest continues......
my latest is that one of my friends convinced me that I should try this study that deals with over eating on a spiritual level.  So, I signed up for it and had the first class today.  I am not sure about this one.  Will keep you posted.......